Marengo's rally snuffs out Burlington Central's

Burlington Central wasted a perfectly good rally.

The Rockets Central scored 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie Marengo only to watch the Indians score twice in the top of the seventh and hold on for a 6-4 win in a Big Northern East softball matchup on Rocket Hill Tuesday.

Kristina Ahlers doubled and homered and Gretchen Schrubbe had a pair of doubles for Central (5-6, 3-1). But the Rockets couldn't overcome 2 homers by the Indians.

"That's a tough one to swallow," said Central coach Kyle Molik. "A conference opponent, you're really geared up for it ... it's a finish we can't be disappointed with, we've got to grow from it."

Central trailed 4-1 in the sixth but Ahlers led off the home half with a line drive over the fence in left-center field. One out later, Schrubbe doubled to deep center. Jill Neisendorf was hit by a pitch and Alyssa Mish smacked a double to right to score both runners.

The tie didn't last long, though. With one out in the seventh, Jessica Turner doubled and scored on Allison Jasinski's line single to right field. Jasinski later scored an insurance run.

The Rockets still had a chance to get back in it. Courtni Neubauer led off the bottom of the seventh with a single. Losing pitcher Emily Kisch hit a towering fly to left that swirled in the wind a bit, but Jackie Pulak made the catch. Winning pitcher Mariah Dionne got 2 strikeouts to end it.

"If that ball drops in, all of a sudden we're at second and third and we've got the three, four, five (hitters) in the lineup," Molik said. "All you can ask is to put pressure on the other team, and I felt that we did that today."

Kisch breezed through the first three innings without allowing a hit. But Veronica Ruelius' towering shot to left field started a 3-run fourth for the Indians (12-1, 4-0), who have now won 26 straight BN-East games.

The Rockets answered with Ahlers' RBI double in the bottom half.

Another long ball by Rebecca Schultz in the sixth restored Marengo's 3-run lead.